Maine unemployment claims decline
(The Center Square) – New claims for unemployment benefits in Maine declined last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.
There were 479 new filings for state jobless benefits filed for the week that ended March 12, the agency reported on Thursday. That’s 185 fewer than the prior week.
Continuing state jobless claims – which lag behind a week – also declined, totaling 7,416 in the week ending March 5. That’s 529 less than the previous week.
Maine has distributed more than $2.5 billion in state and federal jobless benefits to more than 400,000 jobless workers during the pandemic, according to state data.
Maine’s unemployment rate remained largely unchanged at 4.1% in January, according to the Maine Department of Labor.
Despite the improving economic conditions, many employers are still struggling to find workers amid a hiring crunch economists say is holding back recovery.
Business leaders had hoped that the end of the federal unemployment programs last year would result in a boost in hiring, but that doesn’t appear to have happened.
Economists speculate that some workers won’t be coming back to their jobs as a result of the pandemic, a shift to remote work and changes in the labor market.
Nationally, initial jobless claims dropped last week to 227,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department. That’s 15,000 fewer the previous week.
Continuing jobless claims for the week that ended March 5 were also lower than the preceding week, declining by 71,000 to more than 1.41 million, the agency said.
Overall, more than 1.9 million Americans were receiving some type of jobless benefits in the week ending Feb. 26, according to the agency’s report.
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